Has not retiring earlier harmed Roy Jones' reputation ?

[Quixall]

Roy is one of my all time favourite fighters, but i feel that he should have retired a long time ago, maybe after the Ruiz fight.........

After the fight with Ruiz, Roy's reputation was intact, a former middleweight, super-middleweight and light-heavyweight champion, who had become only the second man to win the heavyweight crown after starting out as a middleweight. The only critiscisms that could have been laid at Roy's door at that stage, was that he did'nt fight anyone of near equal ability in his prime years, apart from James Toney and that he could sometimes take the foot off the gas in fights, hence they became pedestrian in nature.

Having failed to go out at the top and retire as he perhaps should have done after the Ruiz fight, Roy's relentless decline since has perhaps taken some of the sheen off what is and should rightly in my view, be regarded as an great boxing career. The most damaging effect upon Roy's reputation came with his knockout losses to Tarver and Johnson, two fights which i feel are still under Jones' skin, hence one of his reasons to carry on. He had could have retired after the win over Trinidad, which whilst meaningless in one way, would at least have allowed Jones to go out on a winning streak. Then came the 12 round mauling defeat to Calzaghe. Again, Roy could have retired after he fought and beat Jeff Lacey, but decided to take on Danny green, where he lost in humiliating fashion, remeniscent of the losses to Johnson & Tarver.

I feel that the further Roy carries on, the more will be taken away from his overall legacy. I don't think he will retire after the Hopkins defeat, in fact i can hear him saying now " I was still standing, he was backing up at the end and the judges see it the way they want to. I just do my thing and ya'll see Roy Jones again........."

What do you guys think

[mickey1975]

Obviously.Peoples memories are very short.We all know what he did,but your average pub argument would go something like this.."Calzaghe knocked him all over,then that other bloke in one round",and there would be no point explaining.Even to the hardcore,his legacy is tarnished to a degree,but we can appreciate him for who he WAS.

[15829]

in the short term it has but give it a few years and people will remember him as one of the greats

[Quixall]

Obviously.Peoples memories are very short.We all know what he did,but your average pub argument would go something like this.."Calzaghe knocked him all over,then that other bloke in one round",and there would be no point explaining.Even to the hardcore,his legacy is tarnished to a degree,but we can appreciate him for who he WAS.

To be honest, ive done that for a while with Jones. I appreciate the fighter that he once was and i'll always admire what he achieved in the ring. He was vitually untouchable through-out his prime years, but age catches up with everyone, especially sportsmen and Jones is no different on that respect.

[whiskey]

I bet's earned more loot since his prime vanished though.

[tonyevs]

Sugar Ray Robinson stayed about too long and also lost to guys who would never have come close to beating him in his prime. It hasn`t hurt his reputation any .. so I don`t see why it should harm Roy Jones`s.

I don`t see why Jones is still fighting. He must be rich enough now. Maybe its just because he loves to fight??

[Finn]

I think what will tarnish his career is his reason for fighting on, is it greed or pride? Its very hard for alot of boxers to hang their gloves up. Surely he must realise he's gone to the dogs now.

hopkins although i cant stand the dick schooled pavlik not long ago so i can see his argument to stick around.

[dondada]

If he wants to fight let him fight Stevie Wonder

I know Roy's shot Mark but come on 8)

[15829]

id take that fight, id even agree to him being a few pounds heavier

[15829]

id hit a dead man for the right price

[15829]

id do all my pre fight interviews at the cemetery, think were on to a winner here

[Crease]

Yes, simply because he keeps losing... It is worsening his good boxing record which he spent years perfecting into a possible Hall of Fame record.

Jones JR. is spent, he will never be as good as he once was, and the sooner Roy realises this the better.
If he wants to continue boxing and keep-fit them more power to him...
But he has to be realistic about the quality of opponents he faces...

I mean, there's no point fighting top quality opponents such as Chad Dawson or Tavoris Cloud, because he stand very little chance of winning.

Nor should he fight Nathan Cleverly or Dustin Dirks or any other young hotshot coming up through the ranks and use Jones JR good name to make a nme for themselves...

[15829]

wonder if frank could tempt him over for bellew, that would not end will for roy

[oliverfennell]

in the short term it has but give it a few years and people will remember him as one of the greats

x2

Nobody talks about Ali-Holmes and Ali-Berbick, or Leonard-Norris and Leonard-Camacho, and others.

[hitman_hatton1]

the tarver and johnson fights definitely harmed his legacy a bit.

great fighter.

but he was guilty of cherry picking mandatories for years and years as well.

not as great as he could have been. :>

[hitman_hatton1]

If he wants to fight let him fight as it's his right. However much he may of gone down hill he still is an all time great and one of the most talented fighters of this generation. Nobody says Stevie Wonder's or Paul McCartney's reputations as great artists have been effect by their solo work from the 80's so like Roy's last 5 fights we shouldnt judge his greatness or reputation on just that.

yeah but people still do mention the crap don't they.

the ebony & ivory video will forever be etched in our memories.

no different with jones.

he'll be remember for being great all those years.

but u can't totally brush the KO defeats under the carpet.

[Rocky Balboa]

If Jones had retired when he beat Ruiz, where would you place on the P4P list all time?

[liamlion]

Jones is destroying his 'legacy', no doubt about it.

However, Prime Jones is the best ive seen in my 28years. An absolute speed demon, with great power in both hands and tremendous defensive skills. I sometimes couldnt believe how good he was in the 90s.

Utter shame that he is insistent on not only damaging his fight record but putting his health at real risk. Tragic infact.

[skelp]

However, Prime Jones is the best ive seen in my 28years. An absolute speed demon, with great power in both hands and tremendous defensive skills. Utter shame that he is insistent on not only damaging his fight record but putting his health at real risk. Tragic infact.

The reason he keeps losing is because he is no longer fuelled by stimulants like Ephedrine, as it is now banned. All his super human performances in the 1990s were more likely down to him abusing these substances. He'll be remembered as a cheat and nothing more. He was a fraud all along.

[liamlion]

However, Prime Jones is the best ive seen in my 28years. An absolute speed demon, with great power in both hands and tremendous defensive skills. Utter shame that he is insistent on not only damaging his fight record but putting his health at real risk. Tragic infact.

The reason he keeps losing is because he is no longer fuelled by stimulants like Ephedrine, as it is now banned. All his super human performances in the 1990s were more likely down to him abusing these substances. He'll be remembered as a cheat and nothing more. He was a fraud all along.

Maybe in your eyes pal... never assume to speak for others

[skelp]

Maybe in your eyes pal... never assume to speak for others

He's a blatant cheat. It is well documented. Waken up, your hero is one of the biggest fraudster's in the history of boxing.

[Quixall]

If Jones had retired when he beat Ruiz, where would you place on the P4P list all time?

I don't get into all that p4p list of all time stuff, because there have been so many great fighters through-out the years.

He would'nt be above Ali, Hagler, Leoanard, Duran and Robinson etc

All i would say is that he was one of the greats of his era and that's all you ever can be.......

[Quixall]

However, Prime Jones is the best ive seen in my 28years. An absolute speed demon, with great power in both hands and tremendous defensive skills. Utter shame that he is insistent on not only damaging his fight record but putting his health at real risk. Tragic infact.

The reason he keeps losing is because he is no longer fuelled by stimulants like Ephedrine, as it is now banned. All his super human performances in the 1990s were more likely down to him abusing these substances. He'll be remembered as a cheat and nothing more. He was a fraud all along.

Completely disagree......

Jones has lost his tremendous speed. That was his main weapon in his prime years. Jones is now 42 years of age and that says everything !!

[mickey1975]

Unfortunately,its not impossible he was on something.Around that time,they were so far ahead of the testers it was unreal(still are in Boxing).He would still be great if he never used,but we will never know.After all,he did get caught once,and by the sport with the crappest testing possibly

[liamlion]

Had Roy Jones retired after the ruiz fight at 48-1 it could be argued he was the greatest of all time.

Since Ruiz hes gone 6-6 and pretty much destroyed his overall legacy, but in the 12 fights since Ruiz hes probably earned somewhere between 30-50 million.

U cant spend a Legacy and I guess thats Jones attitude.

I dont agree. There are many financial opportunities to be gleaned outside the ring from a 'legacy' created inside the ring. Muhammed Ali and George Foreman (to name but two) have amassed more money from their exploits out of the ring than they ever did inside it.

And lets be honest if Jones had retired after the Ruiz fight, he would have had 10s of millions in the bank. I dont think money was the sole factor in Jones fighting on, i think the over-riding factor is that he is trying to prove to himself that he still 'has it'.